


Femme Fatale

by thedemonkingawakes



Series: Hurricane Universe [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Assassins, F/M, Gen, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Sharon and Natasha are BAMFs, Spies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 06:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2180667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedemonkingawakes/pseuds/thedemonkingawakes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After New York, Director Fury splits Clint and Natasha up until he can determine if they are compromised. Shortly after the convergence, Natasha is paired with Sharon Carter for a mission in Italy involving corrupt politicians, the mafia, and revenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Femme Fatale

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Hurricane Universe.

Natasha woke to the sound of knocking. She sat up and slid her feet into a pair of slippers, smiling slightly despite being woken up in the middle of the night. There was only one person who knew she lived here. She padded into the kitchen and unlocked the door. Leaning against the doorframe was Clint.

“Hey Tasha.”

“Did you just get back?” Natasha asked, stepping aside to let Clint in.

“Yeah. Sitwell finished debriefing me about a half an hour ago.”

Natasha pulled open the refrigerator door. “Do you want anything?”

“Do you have any Gatorade?” Clint asked as he sat down at the table.

Natasha tossed him a bottle of purple Gatorade and grabbed a water for herself. With her foot, she pushed the refrigerator door closed and sat down across from Clint. They sat in a tired silence for several minutes. Eventually Clint spoke, breaking the comfortable silence.

“Fury’s sending us to Europe in the morning.”

On cue, Natasha’s secure line chimed with a new message. She glanced at it briefly before turning back to Clint.

“I have a mission brief in two hours.”

“Fury already briefed me on my mission.”

“Why didn’t we get briefed at the same time?” Natasha asked, leaning back in her chair.

“We don’t have the same mission. Fury is sending me to try and track down a shit ton of alien tech that ended up in Europe after Thor’s most recent visit.” He sighed in frustration. “I don’t like this Nat. We should be watching each other’s backs.”

“Fury heard Loki’s comments about us, same as everyone else. He’s just trying to keep us apart as much as he can until he knows whether or not we’ve been compromised.”

Clint sighed. “It still doesn’t feel right.” He stood and walked over to stand behind Natasha. She felt a cold line appear around her neck as Clint draped a thin chain around her neck. He fumbled with the clasp for a moment before it finally slid into place. Natasha turned and looked at herself in the mirror. At first glance, it just looked like a thin silver chain, but as Natasha looked closer, she could see a small silver arrow hanging in the center.

“It’s beautiful Clint.”

“I know you’re not really into jewelry…”

Natasha brushed a quick kiss across his lips, silencing him. “It’s perfect.”

“Consider it a promise; I’ll always find my way back to you.”

“Clint,” Natasha began. Before she could say anything, Clint pulled her close and kissed her. She fell silent, deepening the kiss.

“I mean it. I don’t care how impossible it seems, I’ll always come back.” Clint said, wrapping his arm around Natasha’s waist as they broke apart.

Natasha smiled, a special smile she reserved just for Clint. “Do you need to pack?”

“Nah. I’ll just use the bag I keep here.” He glanced down at Natasha. “How about we pretend we’re a normal couple for a few hours and watch a movie.”

Natasha smiled again and walked into the small living room to pick a movie. Clint rummaged around in Natasha’s cupboards for a minute before he finally found a container of cheeseballs. He carried them out into the living room and sat down next to Natasha. She draped her arm around him and he leaned into her, using her shoulder as a pillow. With her free hand, Natasha hit the play button on the remote. As the opening credits for The Aristocats played, Clint laughed.

“The Aristocats? Tasha, I had no idea you could be such a dork.” He joked.

Natasha shoved him lightly. Grabbing a cheeseball from the open container, she tossed it at Clint’s head. He stretched out his tongue and caught it before cuddling up against Natasha’s side. She absently ran her fingers through his short brown hair as she turned her attention to the movie.

~*~*~

Natasha strode into Director Fury’s office.

“Agent Romanoff,” Director Fury slid a file across his desk to her. She picked it up and began scanning the files inside. “You’re being sent to Rome. There is a ring of corrupt politicians that have been making off the record deals with the Italian mafia. I need you and your partner to take them out quietly. Their murder can’t be linked back to Shield in any way.”

“My partner?” Natasha raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware Agent Barton was back.”

“He is back, for a few hours at least. But he isn’t your partner on this mission.”

“Then who is my partner?”

“Agent 13.”

Natasha glanced up from the file in her hands. “Is there anything else?”

“No. Your jet leaves in an hour. It will take you to London. From there, you will take a commercial plane to Rome.”

Natasha turned and left Fury’s office. She walked through the quiet hallways at a leisurely pace, enjoying the silence. She pushed open the hangar door, careful not to disturb the peaceful night. There was only one light on, and Natasha made her way towards it, skirting around the quinjets and flight equipment. She stopped just outside the circle of light cast by the single bulb and watched the pilot for a minute. Eventually, she stepped into the light.  
“I didn’t know you were flying.”

“I wasn’t. But when the pilot found out who he was flying, well… he got scared and left. Besides, I was going to be flying myself once we reached London either way.”

Natasha laughed. “Well, since you’re heading that way, I’ll just hitch a ride with you. Can you have me there by noon?”

Clint grinned. “Course. I was just finishing up my pre-flight checks, then we can be on our way.”

Natasha walked into the plane. She set her bag down in the back, before taking a seat in the co-pilot’s chair. Clint joined her a moment later, pre-flight checks done. They were silent as the plane lifted off. Once they were in the air, Clint put the plane on auto-pilot and turned to face Natasha.

“What’s your mission?” Clint asked, appropriating half of Natasha’s chair for a footrest.

“Fury wants me to take out a group of corrupt politicians. Apparently making under the table deals with the mafia warrants Shield’s intervention.” She paused for a minute, watching the night sky stream past through the windshield. “Fury also assigned me a partner for the assignment.”

“Who?”

“Agent 13. Judging by Fury’s expression, a newer agent. We’re meeting up in London so we can arrive in Rome together.”

Clint growled. “I’m sick of this. Fury knows we aren’t compromised; we were trained better than that.”

Natasha listened patiently as Clint ranted.

“He’s hiding something. I was trying to look at some files the other day, files with a level 7 clearance, and they were blocked to me. I asked the people in IT, thinking it was just some sort of a mistake, and they said the files were sealed to you, me, and Captain Rogers on Director Fury's orders.”

Natasha frowned. “He’s up to something. Fury may not always tell us everything, but he’s never denied access to files below our clearance level before.”

“He’d better have a damn good reason for hiding those files.”

“Once you get back, we’ll look into it.” Abruptly, Natasha changed the subject. “Do you have any food?”

Clint reached into his bag and pulled out two snack bags. “I have trail mix.”

“Clint, how many times do I have to tell you, mixing chocolate chips with Reese’s Pieces and M&Ms doesn’t make it trail mix.”

“No, but when I mix it with your bag of nuts,” Clint leaned forward and fished a pair of snack bags full of nuts from Natasha’s bag. “Then it becomes trail mix.” He dumped all the bags into a plastic cup and shook it up, putting his hand over the top to keep it from spilling.

Natasha laughed and accepted a handful of trail mix from Clint. He took a handful for himself and set the cup down in a cup holder.

“You up for a little showing off?” Clint asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

Natasha smiled. “I was wondering when you would bring that up.”

Clint took his feet out of Natasha’s chair and turned to face the controls. He turned off auto-pilot and took control of the plane again. “You might want to cover up the trail mix.”

Natasha dumped the trail mix into one of the snack bags and zipped it up. As soon as she was done, Clint flew the quinjet in a loop de loop, laughing wildly. He put the jet through several more aerial maneuvers, showing off his skill with a plane, before he leveled it out and sent them flying towards London.

~*~*~

Natasha slung her bag over one shoulder and started to walk off the plane. Clint placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her just before she left. She turned back towards him and was met with a long, passionate kiss. She relaxed into Clint for a moment, enjoying the peace. All too soon, however, she had to break Clint's embrace. Brusquely, she turned and headed into the main Shield complex, calling back over her shoulder, "I'll see you in a few weeks Barton."

Natasha heard the plane begin to take off behind her as she stepped into the central room of Shield's London base.  The doors sealed shut behind her, cutting off the noise from the outside.

"Agent Romanoff?" A youngish, blond girl stood up from one of the chairs and approached Natasha. "I'm Agent Carter."

The name rang a few bells, although Natasha wasn't sure why it sounded so familiar. "Agent 13?"

"Yeah. You can just call me Agent Carter or Sharon."

"You can just call me Romanoff. Now, I believe our plane is leaving in an hour, correct?" Natasha replied, her voice cool and professional.

"Yes."

"We'd better get going then. We can go over our covers on the plane."

Without another word, Natasha led the way to standard Shield vehicle and slipped into the driver's side. Sharon sat down in the passenger seat. With a hesitant glance at Natasha, she turned on the radio. It was set to an oldie station and Natasha almost turned it off; it reminded her too much of Clint's absence. At the last second, she decided it wouldn't be good to frighten the agent she was to be working with for the next several days, and settled for trying to block it out as much as possible.

~*~*~

"Tell me your cover." Natasha ordered once the plane was in the air.

"Her name is Emily Chapel. She's from France. She has a -"

Natasha cut her off. "Don't recite the file to me. I want to make sure you know your cover. It should be as familiar to you as your own life story, and you need to be able to slip into it at a moment’s notice." Natasha slipped into a flawless French accent. "Bonjour mademoiselle. My name is Victorie Joffre. How are you?"

Sharon stared at her in shock for a few moments. She had heard stories about Agent Romanoff's skill with undercover ops, but she had assumed it was overrated and greatly exaggerated.

"Mademoiselle, are you quite alright?" Concern laced Natasha's accented voice.

Hastily recovering, Sharon replied. "Oh yes. I'm perfectly well, thank you for asking."

"If you don't mind me asking, what's your name?"

"Emily, um, Chapel. I'm from England."

"I've never been to England, although I've heard it's quite lovely. Myself, I'm from France, Lyons to be exact. Have you ever been?"

"No."

Natasha let the accent fall away. "This is you first undercover op?"

Sharon nodded, not making eye contact with Natasha.

"You have a quick mind. With a bit of work, you could make a very good undercover agent. Now, you first mistake was hesitating on your name. That’s one of the biggest tells you'll encounter when dealing with undercover agents, and one of the first things that will make people suspicious of you. Hesitation on basic information like your name, age, and where you live are going to give you away. It was a good idea to change your home to somewhere you have been though." She paused for a moment, letting Sharon process what she had said. "The other thing you should work on is letting conversation flow naturally."

Sharon nodded. They both fell silent as the flight attendant walked by, passing out food and drink for everyone. When she was gone Natasha resumed her lesson.

"How much do you know about flirting with a mark?”

“You’re supposed to try and look desirable. Be confident, charming, sexy.”

“That works if you need a random mark to get you into an event. For a more specific mark, it helps to observe them first; learn their type.”

Sharon nodded. “That makes sense.”

“For this mission, we have a short time frame. Since it’s a party, drinks are going to be our friend. Slow working, untraceable poisons or knockout drugs are our best bets if we want to go unnoticed.”

“Knockout drugs?”

“Get them out of the main party when the drugs start to take effect. Take them somewhere out of the way; somewhere it will take a few days for anyone to find them. Now, do you have a dress to wear to the party?”

“No. I don’t wear dresses often.”

“When we touch down in Rome, our first move will be to find you suitable clothes to wear for the event.” Natasha leaned back and closed her eyes, making it clear the conversation was over.

~*~*~

“Bonjour monsieur, my name is Victorie and this is my friend Emily. We just arrived in town and were looking for some dresses to wear to a party.” Natasha said in a perfect French accent.

“You ladies have come to the right place. We have an excellent selection of dresses, perfect for everything from cocktail parties to galas. My name is Gavin, please ask me if you need any assistance today.”

“Thank you, monsieur.”

The man walked away, leaving Natasha and Sharon alone to look at dresses.

“Do you have any easily visible scars?” Natasha asked, still using a French accent.

“No, why?” Sharon replied, slipping into a British accent.

“If you had any, you would need to either come up with an explanation of how you got them, or wear a dress that covers it up. Since you don’t have any scars, you can wear whatever cut you like.”

Sharon picked out a few dresses and stepped into the dressing room to try them on. A few moments later, she walked out wearing a knee-length, strapless dress in a deep turquoise color.

“What do you think?” Sharon asked, twirling slowly in a circle.

Natasha regarded Sharon for a moment. “It looks nice on you, Emily. It’s not quite appropriate for this event though. Perhaps you should try something a bit longer.”

Sharon nodded and stepped back into the dressing room. When she came out again, she was wearing a strapless dress in a champagne pink color, with a layered skirt tipped with a darker rose color.

“Hmmm….”

“I know, I know, it’s not really my color.”

“With the right make-up and jewelry you could probably pull it off, but I think there are other dresses that would suit you better.”

“What do you think about this one?” Sharon asked, holding up a floor-length dress made of a gauzy silk. The dress was a pale periwinkle color with a sweetheart neckline and a small, dark blue flower offset to the left of the waist.

“That’s gorgeous. Try it on!” Natasha said, only partially faking her enthusiasm. Sharon stepped into the dressing room to try on the dress. While she was changing, Natasha pulled out her phone - her personal Stark phone, not her secure line - and scrolled through her contacts until she found Tony Stark’s name. She opened up a new text message to Tony and wrote:

_Stark,_

_Did you finish that new knife you promised me?_

_Romanoff_

A few minutes later, her phone vibrated with a new text. Before she could read the text, Sharon came back out of the dressing room wearing the periwinkle dress.

“You are très jolie mademoiselle!” Natasha exclaimed, clasping her hands together. “We should go and find you some jewelry to wear with that gorgeous dress.”

As Sharon walked up to the front to pay for the dress, Natasha went outside and read her text message from Tony.

_Course Romanoff_

_Pepper sent it to Rome like you asked_

_The Epically-Awesome Tony Stark_

Natasha shook her head, smiling ever so slightly. Sharon joined Natasha outside.

“What now?”

“You need jewelry to go with the dress.” Natasha replied. “There’s a shop a few blocks from here that has some great pieces.”

~*~*~

Natasha had lost Sharon the moment they had gotten back to the hotel and slipped away to her and Clint’s safe house. She opened the closet and thumbed through the party dresses stored in the back. Thumbing past a sea green dress with a lacy collar and a silvery dress that darkened to midnight blue at the bottom, Natasha found a dark red, layered dress. It had a golden lace collar, and short sleeves made of the same gold lace. Moving quickly, she put the dress into a dress bag and grabbed a pair of gold, high-heeled sandals from the floor of the closet.

Opening the small jewelry box that was sitting on top of the dresser, Natasha pulled out a bracelet. The bracelet was crafted in the design of a ring of sunbursts, each with a garnet set in the center. She tucked it into her bag along with the shoes and turned to leave. On the way out, she saw the package Tony had sent sitting on kitchen table. She opened it and pulled out a knife. The knife was razor thin and perfectly balanced for throwing, with a sturdy leather grip. Natasha slid the knife into the sheath Tony had made and tucked it into her boot. She left the house, locking the door behind her.

Natasha walked purposefully back to the hotel. When she arrived, she found Sharon had already changed into her dress and was experimenting with different styles of makeup. Natasha set the dress bag down on one of the beds. She walked into the bathroom and stood next to Sharon.

“Having trouble with your makeup?”

“I don’t normally use much, so whatever I do seems ridiculous on me.”

Natasha hesitated for a moment before she spoke again. “Would you like me to help you?”

Sharon nodded. Natasha set about removing the makeup from Sharon’s previous attempts with a makeup wipe. Once she got it all off, she grabbed a greyish blue eyeliner from the counter. With a practiced ease, Natasha outlined Sharon’s eyes. Next, she picked up a mascara brush.

“Look up.” Natasha ordered.

Sharon obeyed. Natasha carefully put mascara on Sharon, just enough to make her brown eyes stand out. A silvery eye shadow followed. Examining the colors of lipstick Sharon had for a minute, Natasha eventually settled on a pretty pink color. The last touch was a faint dusting of blush across Sharon’s cheeks.

“There. How’s that?”

Sharon turned and regarded herself in the mirror. An unfamiliar face stared back at her, one with big chocolate eyes and pink tinged cheeks.

“It looks great.”

“Good. I have to get ready and you still need to put on your jewelry. Once we’re both ready we can catch a cab to the event.”

Natasha disappeared back into the main room to change.

~*~*~

Half an hour later, they were both ready. Natasha looked sexy and slightly dangerous in her dark red and gold dress and gold stilettos. Her mascara and winged black eyeliner made her emerald eyes pop and her red lipstick made her lips stand out against her pale skin. A pair of red dewdrop earrings and the sunburst bracelet she had picked up at the safe house completed the outfit.

In contrast, Sharon looked starry and ethereal in her pale blue dress. She had picked out a silver moon pendant to complement her dress and a pair of silver wedges.

“What’s your preferred weapon?” Natasha asked as she slid a gun into her thigh holster.

“A gun. Why?”

Natasha got up and dug around in her bag for a minute. Finding a spare thigh holster, she tossed it to Sharon.

“Bring a gun. That way if, when, something goes wrong, you won’t be caught completely off guard.”

Once their weapons were all secured, Natasha handed Sharon two vials.

“The one with the blue cap is a slow acting poison. Just slip it in their drink. It will take a few days to actually kill them, long enough for us to get out of the country. The one with the white lid is a knockout drug. Let me know whose drinks you slip that into and I’ll get them away from the main party before they pass out.” Natasha stood and opened the door. “Smothering them with pillows is going to be the quietest way to kill them.”

“Okay.” Sharon replied, a slight tremor in her voice.

“If you’d like, I can take care of that part on my own.”

Steeling her voice, Sharon replied, “Thank you, Agent Romanoff, but I can handle myself. It’s not my first mission.”

“No, but it’s your first undercover, the first one where you have to get close to take out your target, right?” When Sharon didn’t reply, Natasha turned and met her eyes with a piercing look. “There’s nothing shameful about taking me up on my offer.”

Sharon said nothing and Natasha turned to leave.

“When was the first time you killed someone up close?” Sharon asked quietly.

It took Natasha a long time to answer. “Fourteen. You have to understand, I didn’t train with Shield. I was forged into a weapon in Russia; there, it was kill or be killed. I was fourteen when they sent me on my first mission. A gun to the temple, squeeze the trigger, and my target was dead.”

“I’ve killed before and the logical part of my brain says it isn’t any different up close, but…” Sharon trailed off into silence.

“It is different. From a distance, it’s easier to see your target as just that, a target, a mission.” _At least that’s what Clint says. I’ve never had the luxury of distance._ “Up close, it’s almost impossible to see your target as anything other than a person. You can see the life drain out of them, and then you have to live with what you did.”

Natasha’s phone rang. She glanced down at the caller ID and smiled. “Excuse me, I need to take this.”

She took a few steps down the hall and answered the phone.

“Hi Clint.”

“Hey Nat. How’s your mission going?”

“Fine. We were just about to head to the gala. Is your mission going well?”

“Well enough I suppose. It’s boring as hell though.”

“Do you know when you’ll be finished with your mission?”

“What, are you already missing me Tasha?”

“Not in the slightest. I’m just ready to get back to watching each other’s six.”

“Unfortunately, it seems like my mission might drag on for a while. Most of the alien tech is easy enough to get, but a few pieces have made their way into the hands of private collectors. It’ll take a while to establish a cover and enough of a reputation to buy them back."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just steal them?"

"Fury wants me to play by the rules. Apparently stealing them would attract unwanted attention."

Natasha sighed. "Its times like this," Clint continued. "That I miss Phil being my handler the most. He would have let me steal the tech and replace it with fakes, or at least he wouldn't have stopped me."

Natasha smiled sadly. "He would have had the sense to know we weren't compromised."

"He was always perceptive. Sometimes more perceptive than we wanted him to be."

"Anyway, since I'm not there you have to tell me what you're wearing to this gala." Clint said in a somewhat forced upbeat voice.

"I'll send you a picture." Natasha pulled the phone way from her ear and texted Clint a picture of her dress.

"I'm sure you look gorgeous." Natasha heard a loud noise on Clint's end of the line. "Listen Nat, I have to go. Be careful."

"You too."

“мы идем вместе, или вообще не.” ( _We go together or not at all._ )

“мы идем вместе, или вообще не.” Natasha replied quietly. The line went dead and she slipped the phone back into her purse.

She rejoined Sharon and together they made their way down to the lobby. Walking outside, Natasha hailed a cab with ease.

“Take us to this address.” Natasha said, not letting her French accent slip an inch. She handed the driver an invitation with an address printed in fancy letters along the bottom.

~*~*~

The cab let Natasha and Sharon out at the curb. Natasha handed the driver a tip and walked up the steps. Natasha tapped her comm, activating it.

“Make sure you keep your comm on the entire time.” Natasha whispered, wandering up the steps, swaying her hips just enough to attract the attention of most of the men in the vicinity.

“ _I will._ ” Sharon replied. Natasha could just see her through the crowd surrounding the building.

“We don’t know each other. Once we’re inside, we are just two happy tourist girls. Don’t trust any drinks you didn’t get yourself.” Natasha paused for a moment before she added one last thing. “Sharon, if this goes south, get out of there as fast as you can. Don’t wait for me, I’ll make it out fine on my own. If we get separated, meet me at theCafé de Paris.”

“Bonne chance.” ( _Good luck)_

“Fortuna erit vobiscum.” Natasha replied quietly. ( _Good fortune be with you._ ) Turning her attention to the crowd, she began looking for a likely mark. Spying a man in a nice suit talking on his cell phone, Natasha made her way over, moving gracefully in a way that highlighted all of her curves. The man hung up his phone as Natasha reached him.

“Why hello little lady. What’s a pretty girl like you doing alone at night?”

Natasha giggled girlishly. In a French accent, she replied, “I was invited to this party, the one the politicians are holding tonight.”

“I’m invited too. Would you like to go with me?”

“Oh monsieur, that is so kind of you. J'aimerais aller danser avec vous.”

The man held out his arm and Natasha placed her arm through his. “You know, I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Vincent. And yours?”

“Victorie.”

~*~*~

Sharon watched as Natasha made her way inside, hanging on the man’s arm. Spying a bench with a good central view of the entrance to the building, Sharon sat down and crossed her legs. A few minutes later, a young man came and sat on the bench next to her.

“How are you this fine evening…?”

“Emily. And I’m doing quite well. I hear there are some big time politicians throwing a party here tonight.”

“And if I happened to know one of said politicians and could get you a ticket, would you go with me?”

“I don’t even know your name.”

“Pierre.”

“I think I could be persuaded to go to this party with you. If you had tickets.”

Pierre laughed. “My uncle is catering for the party. He got me an invite. That invite includes a plus one.”

“Well then I would be delighted to go with you.”

Pierre twined his fingers around Sharon’s and led the way into the party. Sharon gasped as they passed through the doors into the party. A sparkling champagne fountain was the centerpiece of the room. Silvery stars hung from the high ceiling, casting a shimmering silver glow over everything.  People were dancing on a dance floor that had been set up on the right side of the floor. A buffet table had been set up on the left, filled with a wide variety of delicacies.

“Wow.” Sharon breathed. “It’s beautiful.”

“I know. It’s even more beautiful late at night.”

“You know Pierre, I’m feeling kind of thirsty. Would you mind going and getting us some champagne.”

Pierre nodded and headed off to grab them a couple of flutes of champagne. Sharon moved among the crowds, looking for the politicians she and Natasha had been sent to take out. It was pretty easy to spot them; they were the ones at the center of the party, loud, boisterous, each of them with at least one woman following their every move. Sharon grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and slipped a few drops of knockout drugs into it. She giggled and draped herself over one of the younger politicians.

“This is a great party!” Sharon giggled again and thrust the flute into the politician’s hand.

He accepted the glass and took a sip. Leaning forward, he tried to plant a kiss on Sharon’s lips but she danced out of range.

“I don’t think so. I don’t even know your name.”

The politician had already turned his attention to another woman and forgotten all about Sharon. She slipped back into the crowd just as Pierre made his way back over with the champagne.

“Here you go Emily.”

“Thank you.”

~*~*~

Natasha had ditched her companion the moment they got inside. Without much trouble, she had slipped into the group of women who stayed clustered around the hosts.

“Care to dance?” Natasha asked, slipping gracefully up to stand next to one of the politicians. “You’re Rinaldo, right? I love some of the changes you proposed.”

“It appears I’m at a bit of a disadvantage. You know my name, of course, but I don’t think I know yours.”

“Victorie.”

“Well, Victorie, my fiery flower, I would be honored to dance with you.” Rinaldo led the way onto the dance floor as the band began playing a slow waltz. When the waltz was over, Natasha got them each a flute of champagne. She slipped a few drops of poison into one of the glasses and handed it to Rinaldo.

“Care for another dance?”

“My apologies, but I promised some of your friends I would save them a dance. Perhaps later Rinaldo.”

Natasha slipped away, losing herself in the crowded room.

“ _I slipped knockout drugs to the two young ones in the gray suits and the guy in black._ ” Sharon whispered over the comms.

“ _Parfait, merci._ ” ( _Perfect, thank you._ )

~*~*~

Natasha slipped into one of the empty rooms, tugging the politician in the black suit behind her. She pushed him onto the bed, keeping up her flirtatious pretense until the door was locked securely behind them. Grabbing one of the pillows, she knelt on his chest, pinning him to the bed.

“This is for Ayanna and Lamberto.” Natasha snarled, pressing the pillow over his face.

A few minutes later, she stalked out of the room and plastered a charming smile on her face. Swaying her hips angrily, she strode out of the building.

“ _Meet me at_ _Café de Paris in twenty minutes._ ”

~*~*~

Sharon wandered into Café de Paris, pulling her shawl more tightly around her shoulders to ward off the chill. Spying Natasha sitting at the bar, she walked over and took a seat next to her. Natasha grinned tiredly and took a sip of her drink.

“Isn’t there some rule about drinking while you’re undercover?”

“It’s more of an advisement than a rule. Besides, I’m Russian. I can hold my liquor.”

“What’s in that anyway?”

“Ruby red vodka.”

Turning to the bartender, Sharon ordered a coffee. “So, who are Ayanna and Lamberto? Your comm was on.”

Natasha sighed and took another sip of her drink. “Agents Lamberto Della and Ayanna Kone. They were new agents, fresh out of the academy. They were partners.”

Natasha fell silent, taking a sip of her drink.

“What happened to them?” Sharon asked after several minutes.

“They died.” Natasha’s voice shook slightly. “It was their very first mission. Should’ve been simple, break in and retrieve a few files from some political offices. Somehow, someone knew they were coming. The corrupt politicians we took out were waiting for them. They were outnumbered and outgunned.”

“That’s why we took them out.”

“If it were possible to kill them twice, I would.” She finished her drink and stood up. “I hate not being able to do anything to prevent new agents from getting killed.”

Sharon stood up and hesitantly put gave Natasha a quick hug. “I’m sorry.”

Natasha schooled her face into an expressionless mask and headed for the door. “Come on. We have a six am flight.”

~*~*~

Two days later

~*~*~

Natasha sat down next to Sharon in Shield’s cafeteria. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes. Eventually, Natasha spoke. “Hey, if you’re interested, Agent Hill, Agent May, and myself, along with some other agents when they’re around, do tai-chi in the morning. You can join us if you want.”

“I’d love to.” Sharon replied.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I just love the idea of Natasha being friends with Sharon and mentoring her a bit, so this is the beginning of that. The background for the pic of Natasha's dress is their safe house in Rome.  
> Also, lots of the female agents (plus occasionally Clint and one or two other male agents) do tai-chi in the morning, at least in this universe.


End file.
